On Wednesday, 18 February 1998, a search and rescue helicopter from the
China Lake Weapons
Test Squadron crashed in the Kern River canyon on a training flight and
killed the five-member crew.
A memorial service for the fliers was held at the All Faith Chapel on base
at China Lake on Monday,
23 February 1998.

Day is done, gone the sun
From the lake, from the hill, from the sky.
All is well, safely rest.
God is nigh.

Thanks and praise for our days
'neath the sun, 'neath the stars, 'neath the sky.
As we go, this we know.
God is nigh.

OPERATION REPORTS

Tom Roseman

97-08 2 Aug 97
Incident Mt. Whitney Mike Myers
On 2 August, seven members of CLMRG and one guest were enjoying a beautiful
day climbing the Mountaineer's Route on Mt. Whitney. We reached the summit
in the early afternoon and rested only a short while before heading down
the Whitney Trail.
Just after leaving Trailside Meadow, we came upon Roger and Darla Carpenter,
who were having a lot of difficulty. Following a quick assessment, we learned
that Darla had injured her knee up near the summit, and had hobbled down
to where we found her. We put a pressure bandage on her knee and gave her
two ski poles to use for walking support. This helped considerably.
At this point, several factors had to be considered. Darla and Roger had
no warm clothing at all, she could barely walk, we still had five miles
to go, and we had three members of our own group who were feeling poorly.
We divided into two groups. Barry and Gina Niesen and I stayed behind to
help Darla down. Steve Florian, Debbie Breitenstein, Cindy Goettig, and
Walter and John Runkle left their warm clothing with us and headed on down
to the parking area.

Darla had to be assisted down every step of that last five miles. She was
determined to make it without being carried out, but her good knee was showing
signs that it was going to go out before we reached the parking lot. Barry
and Gina did an outstanding job assisting her down every step. Unbelievable
patience! Toward the end, Darla couldn't even pick her feet upshe just slid
them along in the dirt. Exhausted, we reached the parking lot about 0200
the following morning.
Although the knee injury would have been difficult to prevent, having an
inadequate first aid kit, no warm clothing, and not enough water could have
turned this incident into a much more serious problem. Like most people,
they had not planned on having an accident or an injury. They came prepared
only for a walk up and down the trail with little allowance for problems.

97-09 11 Aug 97
Alert Whitney Trail Tom Roseman
I took a page from Deputy Keith Hardcastle of Inyo County Sheriffs Office
(ICSO) at 1254 on Monday, 11 August. They were searching for a missing hiker
on the Whitney Trail and wanted us to standby in case they could not locate
the hiker. I decided to go ahead and make the callout and have everybody
standing by. Terry Mitchell took the job of coordinator and with the help
of Sheila Rockwell made the callout. Eleven people responded. At 1340, I
received another page that the subject had been found and was OK. A. Mitchell,
Buffum, D. Burge, Florian, Dorey, Goettig, Rindt, Najera-Niesen, Niesen,
Creusere, and Seibold were the eager volunteers.

97-10 19 Aug 97
Search Garlock Tom Sakai
At 0418 on Tuesday, 19 August, my phone rang and woke me from a sound sleep.
It was Sgt. John Diederich of Kern County Sheriffs Office (KCSO) asking
for assistance in searching for Patricia Davies,
a 12-year-old girl missing since the night before. At about 1830, the girl
had been hiking in the area with her mother and a female friend of the mother.
The girl was last seen between 1930 and 1950. Sgt. Diederich and 10 members
of the IWVSAR team had been searching all night, to no avail, and needed
some additional help.
The girl's description was given as 4 feet tall, 65 pounds, and blond hair
in a pony tail. She was wearing a black T-shirt and blue shorts with a floral
print. She was wearing Vans, a deck-type shoe, that was about 9 inches long.
The weather in the area had been mild all night.
I asked Betty Meng to start a call-out and have members meet at the hut
at 0500. Sheila helped with the telephoning. We had 11 people respond to
the callout: Roseman, Mitchell, Finco, Hinman, D. Burge, Renta, Florian,
Schafhauser, Goettig, Creusere, and I. The advance team of Roseman, Mitchell,
Finco, and Schafhauser left the hut at 0520 headed for the search base on
Garlock Road 1.5 miles west of Garlock. The rest of us followed at 0540.
The girl was found in good condition at 0545 walking down Garlock Road by
one of the search teams. A call to our pager informed us of this fact and
that our services were no longer needed. So
the later teams returned to the hut and put things away, and all but I went
home or to work by 0630.
I stayed at the hut waiting for the advance team to return.
The advance team was just approaching search base when the girl was found,
so they stayed for the debrief. Consequently, they did not return until
0715. Because he stayed for the debrief, Roseman was able to fill me in
on some of the details, which was helpful.

97-11 15 Sep 97
Search Lytle Creek Linda Finco
The Kern County Sheriff's Communication Center called me at 0040 on Monday,
15 September. My name was given during the initial request from West Valley
SAR. West Valley had requested OES to contact China Lake and other MRA teams
to assist in a search in the Lytle Creek area. West Valley was calling ahead
to each county to give the teams more time to get ready. The comm center
said we could go ahead and contact West Valley and get the details on where
and when to meet for the search. The comm center would contact us with an
OES number when it arrived. West Valley wanted us to meet at the Shell Station
in Lytle Creek at 0500. Carol Burge coordinated the callout, and the plan
was to meet at the hut at 0230. Sgt. Diederich called back around 0130 with
the OES number.
Five members met at the hut, and we left at 0300. We arrived in base camp
at 0500 and received information on the search. The search was for 38-year-old
Penny Fletcher. Penny was last seen at a cabin at Prospect (located on the
Cucamonga Quad) around 1600 on Saturday, 13 September. West Valley and other
San Bernardino County teams had been searching since Saturday evening. At
the cabin searchers were able to distinguish only the tracks of Penny's
friend, who was with her at the cabin. The reporting party (RP) stated that
Penny had gone to the outhouse around 1600 and did not return. When she
did not return, the RP searched the area and then drove out and reported
her missing. West Valley had thoroughly searched the place last seen (PLS)
and were now going to expand the search area.
We were assigned Day Creek. Day Creek is a drainage that is about 2 miles
west from the PLS. The logic is that if she somehow got that far down the
road, she might see the city lights from the top of the creek. The descent
starts fairly mildly, and then the terrain gets rougher and more dense with
brush that could cause problems for a tired or inexperienced hiker. Our
team was split into two. Hueber and Florian started from the bottom of the
creek (around 2400 feet) and searched up the drainage. Runkle, Goettig,
and I started from the top of the drainage (around 5800 feet) and worked
down. We started searching around 0900. At 1320, the two groups met at the
4100-foot contour. The only sign either team found came from bears, although
we did find wreckage from an ATV and a plane crash, and we found a cave
with a pad, sleeping bag, and other gear neatly stowed away. The plan now
was for all of us to hike back to the vehicle at the bottom of the creek.
At 1630, we got a report that Penny had been found. We got that call on
our final rest breakabout the time we realized we had stopped and dropped
our packs on a yellow jacket. I got stung first on the side of the head,
and then we noticed the bees swarming around Goettig's gear. As we grabbed
our gear to get away, I got stung again on the hand and Runkle got stung
on his back. Goettig received 10-15 stings on her hands trying to get her
gear. Hueber in the meantime donned his parka and gloves and told Goettig
just to get away. Hueber collected her gear and in doing so got stung on
the hand and chin. We stopped down the creek to put Sting-eze on our wounds
and repack our gear. We got back to the vehicle around 1700 and arrived
back in base camp around 1730.
During the debriefing, we were told that Penny had walked down to a road
and was found by some reporters. Penny said she separated from her friend
on Saturday afternoon after a short hike. When she got back to the cabin
she could not find her friend so she decided to hike out. Instead of hiking
down the road she headed due north from the cabin and ended up in the Middle
Fork drainage. She got only about 1/4 mile down the canyon the first night
before she had to stop because of the terrain. The next morning, she worked
around the obstacle and continued down. Somewhere near the bottom of the
canyon, she reported she was attacked by two men who stole her shoes and
threw her down a cliff. She eventually wandered down to the road and was
found by the reporters. She had hiked approximately 6 miles to get to where
she was found.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff had supplied us with breakfast and lunch
during the search and also offered us dinner, but we decided to load up
our gear and eat at Marie Callender's in Victorville. We left the base camp
at 1805, and after stopping to eat, we arrived back in Ridgecrest at 2100.
Participants: Linda Finco (Leader), Werner Hueber, Steve Florian, Walter
Runkle, Cindy Goettig, Carol Burge (Coordinator), and Janet Westbrook (Telephoner)

97-12 15 Sep 97
Rescue Mt. Tyndall Tom Sakai
OES#97-OES-01072
The call came at 0310 from Sgt. John Diederich relaying a request from Sequoia-Kings
National Park through OES and KCSO for our assistance in locating and evacuating
43-year-old Tim Patterson, an injured climber from the San Francisco Bay
Area, somewhere near the summit of Mt. Tyndall. The NPS had talked to Dep.
Keith Hardcastle, the new SAR coordinator for ICSO, who recommended CLMRG
for the probable high-angle rock requirements of this operation. This was
the second call of the early morning for our help (see Lytle Creek search),
so I wasn't sure how many we could get together. Because Carol Burge was
coordinator for the earlier search, I asked her to do this one as well.
Tim had been climbing Mt. Tyndall alone at about 14,000 feet when be fell
at 0900 Sunday morning. An unrelated party, also climbing alone, heard his
shouts for help at 1430 that same afternoon. She had only voice contact
because he was in an area she felt was too difficult for her to reach. She
hiked out and reported the incident to NPS at 2345.
Mike Myers, Al Green, Curtis Davis, and Mark Lambert responded to the callout.
Steve Klump, OIC for the NPS, asked that we be at Lone Pine Airport at 0830
ready to be flown to the Shepherd Pass LZ. We were ready at the appointed
hour, and the helicopter arrived on time ready to take us in. The pilot
reported severe winds with some shears in Tim's vicinity. Consequently,
they had not been able to overfly the area. The winds were a little vigorous
and increasing at the airport.
Because of the dangerous flying conditions, the pilot agreed to take only
one person in at a time. Green was to go in first to assess the field situation.
However, before he even got onboard the helicopter, the pilot decided the
winds had gotten too bad. The flight crew decided to return to their home
base at Ash Mountain on the west side of the Park via a southern route (probably
less windy). Within 10 minutes of lift-off, the helicopter was back at Lone
Pine because the conditions were too dangerous even on this southern route.
They shut down at 0945 and tied down the helicopter blades until the winds
diminished. The weather report called for increasing winds through midnight,
so it appeared the helicopter would be down for most of the day.
When our transport vanished, I offered our group to hike in over Shepherd
Pass and stated we could be in position by dark. Steve didn't want us to
do that, preferring that we wait for a shuttle. It was then decided that
we would return to Ridgecrest and remain on standby. Tim still had not been
located by the three-person NPS ground team at this time.
Steve called me at home about 1230 to report that Tim had been located and
was doing okay. Tim had fallen approximately 50 feet down the north side
of the NW ridge near the summit. He had a possible fractured femur or hip.
Steve was trying to get a CH-47 to do a long-line pick-up, but he was also
arranging for a large number of personnel, mostly NPS, to do a carry out
in the event the large helicopter was not available. Because the high winds
were creating dangerous flying conditions, it would be Tuesday morning before
enough people could be in place to carry out Tim, reported to be 6'11"
and 250 pounds. He requested we be ready for pick-up at Lone Pine Airport
Tuesday morning at 0730.

By Monday night, NPS had eight backcountry rangers, including a medic (John
Young), with Tim. They brought warm clothing and a litter. Tim had spent
Sunday night by himself in only light clothing (polypro top and bottom,
jeans, shirt, gloves, and light coat) and was suffering from early stages
of hypothermia with a body temperature of 95 degrees. His condition was
good considering he had been out all night. John started an IV to assist
in keeping Tim hydrated, and they put him in a down bag. Because of Tim's
size, the sleeping bag came up only to his armpits. One of the rangers hiked
down to Tim's base camp at ~11,800 and brought back a large down jacket
to put over the top part of his body. The rangers gave Tim hot Gatorade
to drink to help in the rewarming process. They started the carry out Tuesday
morning at approximately 0930, but with only eight people and the extreme
weight of the package, progress was very slow.
A contingent of eight from CLMRG, the five from Monday plus Mike Dorey,
Dennis Burge, and Barry Niesen, arrived at 0715 and waited for helicopter
pick-up. After some administrative delays, our first team of four (Myers,
Lambert, Davis, and Dorey) were loaded on a Forest Service helicopter at
0930. They were dropped at the Shepherd Pass LZ (11,900) at 1005 and ascended
the north side of
Mt. Tyndall meeting the lowering team at 1115 at about 13,900 feet. The
second CLMRG team met the stretcher at 1215 at 13,200 feet. Our arrival
increased the total count to 25 rescuers (8 CLMRG and
17 NPS backcountry rangers and trail crew). The field OL was Park Ranger
Scott Waneck.
Because of Tim's weight, which was estimated to be closer to 280 pounds,
moving the Stokes stretcher down the rock proved to be very difficult. We
nested the Stokes stretcher into a Junkin stretcher, which is plastic reinforced
with stainless steel, and tied the two units together. Four sleeping bags
were required to pad Tim's back and neck to allow his head to stick out
beyond the stretcher handrail. The combined weight of Tim, two stretchers,
gear bag, and all the necessary padding was close to 400 pounds.
We continued lowering Tim to 12,600 feet, when at 1425, Scott was told there
was a Air National Guard Blackhawk rescue helicopter from Mather AFB near
Sacramento in the Park to help with the evacuation. Base camp projected
an ETA of 30 minutes to our location, so we found a reasonably level spot
to put Tim and awaited the helicopter. It arrived on scene at 1530.
The winds were strong and gusting over the NW ridge, and the temperature
was moderate. The helicopter came in, lowered a medic, then hovered in the
distance. The medic inspected Tim, the stretcher setup, victim tie-in, etc.
He made a few minor adjustments, and we hooked up his cable spider for the
hoist. The helicopter came back and lifted Tim aboard at 1610, followed
by the medic. They were to fly Tim to a hospital in Fresno.
The ground rescuers quickly hiked back to the Shepherd Pass LZ for pick-up.
There was some urgency, since there was only about 3 hours of daylight and
close to 30 people to transport. The first of our two teams of four lifted
off at 1710, and the second team was at Lone Pine by 1800. We were back
in Ridgecrest at 2040, tired but happy.
Note 1: Steve Klump called the next day to thank us and informed me that
Tim Patterson did have a fracture "high" on his right femur. He
would be put in traction for two days before they would operate on his leg.
Note 2: Because of Tim's size, he did not fit in the stretcher very well.
His back and neck were padded with four sleeping bags to allow his head
to stick out beyond the handrail. His broken leg was not in a traction splint,
but was immobilized in a bent position because it was most comfortable for
him. Consequently, his very sensitive bent leg hung out over the edge of
the stretcher. Much care in handling was needed by those on that side.
Note 3: Park rangers for this operation were brought in from Bearpaw, Ash
Mountain, Charlotte Lake, Little Five Lakes, Bench Lake, Sequoia Trails,
Rock Creek, Mt. Tyndall, McClure, Rae Lakes, Sierra Crest SDR, Lodgepole,
and Crabtree backcountry ranger stations, along with a couple members of
the Sequoia Trail Crew.
Note 4: The Blackhawk aircrew would NOT have hoisted Tim if he had been
in the Stokes stretcher alone, and we would have had to transfer him into
their stretcher. However, because the Stokes was nested in the Junkin (reinforced
stainless steel unit) the aircrew accepted the strength as being acceptable.

97-13 17 Sep 97
Alert Mt. San Jacinto Linda Finco
Andrew Mitchell called on the pager around 1000 on Wednesday, 17 September,
looking for a leader to take a team from China Lake to assist on a search
on Mt. San Jacinto. I called Mitch back and told him I could take the operation
if we were not required till the next morning. (I had a couple of reports
I needed to finish at work.) Mitch told me to contact Russ Anderson (Sierra
Madre), who was acting as an in-town coordinator for the search, to let
him know whether we could send a team and to find out when we would be required
to be at base camp.
Before calling Russ, I called Mary Schmierer, who coordinated the callout.
The plan was to see who could meet either that evening or early the next
morning to go to Mt. San Jacinto. Mary called back within the hour and said
that only Tom Sakai had committed, but she left lots of messages on people's
answering machines.
At 1100, I called Russ to find out if base wanted two people from China
Lake to assist in the search. Russ explained that the search was for a 47-year-old
man who had left the Long Valley Ranger Station around 1400 on Sunday. His
plan was to hike to the summit and return. The rangers remembered him wearing
only a T-shirt and shorts. The weather blew in that afternoon with low clouds
and rain. The search began late Sunday, and so far, nothing had been found.
Most of the searching had been along the trails and meadows, but base was
now looking for searchers with technical skills who could descend some of
the rugged canyons in the area including Tahquitz canyon and the north face
of Mt. San Jacinto. So Russ felt that even just the two China Lake members
would be an asset for the search. Russ said that the in-town coordination
was being transferred to Jon Innskeep (Sierra Madre) and that he would contact
Jon and pass on the information that China Lake had two, maybe three, people
available for the search. If we were requested, OES would then be contacted
to make the official request.
I contacted Sakai to fill him in on the details. If China Lake was requested,
the plan was to meet at the hut around 0300 or 0400 and be available at
base the first thing in the morning. During this time, Debbie Breitenstein
called and said she could go on the search.
When I had not heard back from Jon, I called around 1430 and left a message
on his answering machine. Jon called back at 1500 with news that the man
had been found. A helicopter spotted the man at the 4000-foot contour on
the north face of Mt. San Jacinto. The man was transported from the canyon
and was in good condition. All this happened sometime between 1230 and 1330.
Jon thanked us for responding and said we would probably get more details
at the upcoming MRA meeting in Yosemite.
Participants: Linda Finco (Leader), Tom Sakai, Debbie Breitenstein, Mary
Schmierer (Coordinator), and Terry Mitchell (Telephoner).

97-14 27 Nov 97
Transit Pacific Crest Trail Tom Roseman
Watching football and resting up for a hearty Thanksgiving dinner, I glared
at the pager as Sgt. Diederich requested assistance for an overdue 56-year-old
male hiker on the PCT south of Walker Pass. Although reportedly experienced,
he was not dressed for the snow storm that had gone through that area the
day before. Duty overcame hunger, and I responded to the pager. Betty Meng
accepted as coordinator and, with assistance from Terry Mitchell, made the
callout. Eight dedicated folks left the hut at around 1400 en route
to Walker Pass to meet Sgt. Diederich. Shortly after 1500, we arrived, made
radio contact, and waited a few minutes for Sgt. Diederich. We were able
to monitor the sheriff's radio traffic on the radio in the jeep. Shortly
after Sgt. Diederich arrived at the pass, a helicopter spotted the overdue
hiker near Highway 58, landed, and verified that he was our subject. We
headed home around 1530 with time to enjoy the rest of the Thanksgiving
Holiday. Responding were A. Mitchell, Hueber,
B. Rockwell, Florian, Goettig, Roseman, Niesen, and Najera-Niesen.

97-15 14-15 Dec 97
Transit Idyllwild (Humber Park) Tom Sakai
OES # 97-OES-1221
At 1120 on Sunday, December 14, my phone rang just as I was going to bed
after having climbed Owens Peak that afternoon. It was Sgt. John Diederich
of KCSO relaying a request for assistance from Riverside in searching for
Iskander Toubia, a 46-year-old male, who had not returned from a run that
morning.
My point of contact was to be Sgt. Scott Beackle of the Riverside County
SO. When I called, Sgt. Beackle was not present, so I talked with Deputy
Sanchez. He gave me the current temperature and weather conditions at the
search site. I told him we could have a team ready to search at his site
by 0600. That was agreeable with him.
Toubia had gone out at 1030 from Fern Valley for what was to be a 1-hour
run. He was reported to be wearing shorts and a T-shirt. There was snow
on the ground (about 1 foot) at the plateau, and the air temperature was
in the low 30s at the Humber Park base camp.
Carol Burge, our coordinator, and Janet Westbrook managed to get three others,
W. Hueber, C. Goettig, and E. Schafhauser, to commit. We met at the hut
at 0100 on Monday, December 15, gathered our gear, and were on the road
at 0140. We stopped at Kramer Junction on US395 about 0230 to check in with
the search base. We were told that Toubia had been found dead, and our services
were no longer needed. We returned home, arriving in Ridgecrest at 0345,
and stowed our gear. I was home in bed at 0410.
I later found out from an article in the Idyllwild newspaper that a rescuer,
Tom Rutledge (age 50), of the San Gorgonio SAR team was seriously injured
during the body recovery the next morning. He apparently slipped on ice
and tumbled down a chute suffering "serious injuries to his back, neck,
and head." He was put in intensive care at Desert Hospital in Palm
Springs. His current condition is unknown.
Note: Carol was phoned by KCSO that Toubia was found before we checked in
at Kramer Junction. She tried to call us on the cell phone, which was on
at the time, but for some reason did not reach us. Later, however, I was
able to reach her from the same cell phone. We do not know what the problem
might have been.
[Editor's note: Hueber reports that a news article dated 29 Jan from Idyllwild
states that Tom Rutledge is in stable condition and is undergoing treatment
at Casa Colina Rehabilitation Center in Pomona.]

Accomplishments
We accomplished the following in 1997:
Purchased four new Marmot 12XL GPS Units
Replaced the locking carabiners on the stretcher
Completed the smog check on the jeep
Purchased new edge rollers
Purchased additional hot shot antennas
Purchased three new ropes and retired three old ropes
Checked all radios and electronic equipment
Purchased radio harnesses
Purchased a cable for the directional antenna
Cleaned the outside of the hut
Replaced pagers for operations leaders
Performed maintenance on all items in the hut

1998 COMMITTEES

Tom Sakai

PUBLIC EDUCATION

SHERIFF'S OFFICE

EMERGENCY SERVICES COUNCIL

T. Mitchell (Chair)

Green (Chair)

Finco (Chair)

Schmierer

Myers

C. Burge

Sakai

SUMMER CLASS

Schafhauser (Lead Instructor)

TRAINING

ASTM

A. Mitchell

Hueber (Chair)

D. Burge (Chair)

Green

Renta

Runkle

Breitenstein

FIRST AID

Hueber

Schafhauser (Chair)

Breitenstein

EQUIPMENT

Antonsen

McCormick

Huey (Chair)

Ferguson

Creusere

Rindt

WEB SITE HOME PAGE

Finco

Westbrook

J. Westbrook (Chair)

Hueber

B. Niesen (Quartermaster)

QUALIFICATIONS

THE TALUS PILE

Renta

Roseman (Chair)

Castro (Editor)

Runkle

Myers

A. Mitchell

1998 OFFICERS

President

Tom Sakai

375-7404

tsakai@ridgecrest.ca.us

Vice-president

Mike Myers

375-6801

Mike_Myers@wssagw.chinalake.navy.mil

Secretary

Walter Runkle

377-5931

Walter_Runkle@clplgw.chinalake.navy.mil

Treasurer

Gina Najera-Niesen

375-3073

Gina_Niesen-CTA@imdgw.chinalake.navy.mil

MRA Representative

Linda Finco

375-7951

linda_finco@imdgw.chinalake.navy.mil

1998 CONTACTS

Public Education

Terry Mitchell

377-5108

Terry_A#d#_Mitchell@cmpogw.chinalake.navy.mil

Training

Werner Hueber

375-2165

hueber@ridgecrest.ca.us

Equipment

Bob Huey

375-1714

huey@ridgecrest.ca.us

First Aid

Ellen Schafhauser

375-4043

locoweed@iwvisp.com

Qualifications

Tom Roseman

375-1030

Tom_Roseman@imdgw.chinalake.navy.mil

Mike Myers

375-9189

Mike_Myers@wssagw.chinalake.navy.mil

Andy Mitchell

375-3368

Andrew_Mitchell@rccgw.chinalake.navy.mil

Sheriff's Office

Al Green

375-9189

agreen@ridgecrest.ca.us

ASTM Representative

Dennis Burge

375-7967

Emergency Services

Linda Finco

375-7951

linda_finco@imdgw.chinalake.navy.mil

Summer Class

Ellen Schafhauser

375-4043

locoweed@iwvisp.com

Stores

Carol Burge

446-7038

cburge@ridgecrest.ca.us

The Talus Pile

Loren Castro

375-3279

lfc32@ridgecrest.ca.us

Web Page Janet Westbrook 375-8371 jwest@ridgecrest.ca.us

DONATIONS

Gina Najera-Niesen

CLMRG gratefully acknowledges recent gifts from the following friends: